Effects of plant functional group loss on alpine meadows community
structure and soil nutrients over various timescales
Abstract
In the Alpine Meadow ecosystems of eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the
interrelations among the species diversity of different vegetation
communities, productivity, community structure as well as soil nutrients
were thoroughly researched through running biodiversity manipulation
experiment to explore the species survey consequences of 3 and 10 years
of plant functional groups (Gramineae, Cyperaceae, Legumes, and other
Forbs) removal at Haibei station. The results demonstrated that the
interannual variation of the remaining species richness, above-ground
and below-ground biomass of the community gradually presented a tendency
to decrease as the removal time increased, and there was a positive
relationship between species richness and productivity, and the
correlation became increasingly significant. The removal behavior
reduced the number of Gramineae within the remaining community. The
content of soil total nitrogen, phosphorus, organic matter and moisture
content of Legumes loss treatment increased significantly. The treatment
that removal Forb had the lowest negative cohesion values, revealing
that it is difficulty for this community to recover to the previous
equilibrium state in a short time. In our study, all affects of species
removal on ecosystem may be related to variance in the structure and
composition of species in community. Meanwhile, changes in the number of
Gramineae indicated that Gramineae are more sensitive and less resistant
to removal behavior. Furthermore, the specific performance of Legumes
removal indirectly indicates that the loss of diverse plant function
groups prompted distinct replies to the starvation and compensation
effects. In a nutshell, species loss at the community level leads to
shifts in the niche of each species, inducing a redistribution of
community resources and leading to significant changes in community
structure.